Over 150 Teams Reportedly Applied For The VALORANT Partnership League
With a new era of VALORANT esports on the horizon with the Partnership League looming after the Champions Tour 2022 campaign concludes, Riot Games has received an overwhelming number of applications for the limited partnership slots.
Riot announced their VALORANT partnership scheme for 2023 back in April, where it was revealed that 30 teams will join ties with the developers across four different regions.
With three leagues of ten set to be rolled out in a franchised system replicable of the League of Legends format, esports organisations from Asia, EMEA, and Americas (North and South) have shown tremendous interest to try and snatch a spot.
Reports Suggest Over 150 Teams Worldwide Applied For VALORANT Partnership Scheme
According to a Dot Esports' George Geddes report, over 150 organisations worldwide have applied for a partnership place with Riot Games. Geddes detailed that more than 200 organisations have shown initial interest, although some dropped out of the application process.
Some of the applications may have overlapped regions though, specifically G2 Esports, who have submitted two requests to Riot Games. The org that has both ties to Spain and North America applied for a slot in both the Americas and European VALORANT leagues. More organisations could have also applied for a second region, although it's unsure if any further teams looked to take advantage of this.
Some organisations such as Cloud9 have often hosted European teams, whereas teams such as Evil Geniuses have strong ties to the Asian scene, which could play a pivotal role in the application process.
More NA Orgs Applied For VALORANT Partnership Scheme Than The LCS
The number of applicants in North America alone surpassed those interested in the League of Legends Championship Series, according to Geddes' report.
Despite a $30 million buy-in fee for the LCS, VALORANT's partnership scheme has a free entry, which could be why most orgs saw the opportunity too good to pass up on, although the extensive interest shows just how far VALORANT has come in its two-year lifespan.
Riot Games have yet to confirm or deny any team's applications, with the developers seemingly waiting until the 2022 VCT Champions finals are concluded in September.
